Title : THE LAST OF THE MED-JAI

Author : Indie

Rated : R

Disclaimer : The character Ardeth Bay belongs to Stephen Sommers and the Universal Pictures. The characters of Star Trek Crews belong to Gene Rodenberry and the Paramount Pictures. Other characters belong to the author. No infringement intended. The author does not make money out of this story.

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CHAPTER 1

Hamunaptra Resort

Earth, Sol Sector

Stardate 2359.6

Ardeth Bay VII opened his eyes lazily. A soft, yet formal female’s voice calling his name.

"Wake up, Ardeth. Five seconds remaining…. Four…. Three…"

"OK! OK! I’m up!! Don’t you dare setting the alarm off, Kalila." He said in a firm, yet lazy voice."

He pushed the cover away from him and sat on the bed rubbing his eyes. He was naked. He came down from the bed and walked to the bathroom. The room was quite big, furnished with top quality furniture. No paintings hung on the walls, no decoration whatsoever. Despite the luxury of the furnishing, the room was indeed dull.

The soft and beautiful voice of the female sounded again when Ardeth had finished taking his bath, "There is a priority 2 subspace message waiting, Ardeth."

Ardeth frowned. He was a man in his early 40s. Still combing his short hair he walked to a console. "Put it on screen, Kalila."

The computer answered, ".. on screen…."

An image flickered, showing a ghostly female face. "Ardeth, I’ll be docking in your shuttle bay in 5 hours. I’m coming alone. What’s your word for it? Incognito?" She smiled, showing both her upper fangs. The communiqué ended.

Ardeth looked at his chronometer, frowned, "Kalila, what’s the ETA?" He asked.

"20 minutes 5 seconds." The beautiful voice answered.

"Shit!" he cursed and quickly pressed a button on his wardrobe. The door slid open smoothly, revealing the inside. Some clothes were neatly hung. He took one on the very right. The door slid shut automatically. He quickly put on black trouser and a grayish shirt, while shouting to his communication unit. The trouser fit perfectly to his body, showing all the muscles of his legs and butt.

"Bay to Bleeth." He shouted.

"Bleeth here." A firm female’s voice answered his call.

"Monica, get a suite room ready for a VIP guest and arrange a priority one security on the shuttle bay. Arrival ETA 20 minutes. I’m coming down there, now."

"Priority one? Are you kidding?" The female’s voice sounded surprised, but Ardeth had closed the link.

Monica Bleeth was a fairly beautiful lady. She’s an Egyptian woman of a Med-Jai descendant, just like Ardeth. She has a long, black hair that she always neatly tied. She was the director of the Hamunaptra Resort, and basically Ardeth Bay’s right hand. She ran the hotel, the resort facilities, the museum, the attraction sites and everything regarding the money in the business.

She tapped her comm. unit and gave orders to her people to carry out Ardeth’s request. She was just finished talking to the manager of the hotel when Ardeth entered the room. The door wooshed close behind him.

"So? Is it done?" He asked and sat in front of her. His fingers tapping her desk. He smiled to her.

Monica sighed, "As far as the room it’s done. The security thing is something else. I have arranged our standard security procedure for the guest."

Ardeth stopped drumming his fingers and looked at her, "No kidding…"

"Ardeth, you should’ve known by now that priority one security takes at least 10 hours for confirming the status of the VIP guest. You can’t just….." She stopped talking when she saw the gleam in Ardeth’s eyes.

"Sons of Pharaohs!" She hit Ardeth’s hand with the palm of her hand. "What did you do that for?"

Ardeth grinned. He liked seeing her that way. They were the best of friends. Monica had been raised by Ardeth's parents since childhood. Yet she had grown closer to Ardeth rather than his two sisters. They trusted each other with their lives and kept no secrets from one another.

Monica winced, "No….. I don’t like that grin, Ardeth. I know only one person that can bring that kind of grin to your face. Don’t tell me it’s her." She said.

Ardeth kept grinning, nodded to her, "uh-huh…"

"Shoot!" Monica started tapping her comm. unit, but Ardeth held her hand and shook his head.

"She’s coming alone, Monica. No body guards…. No security checking…. Nothing like the last time she visited. She’s coming incognito. That’s what she told me." He was still wearing the flyboy smile as he talked.

Monica sighed and walked around her desk. She slapped Ardeth’s back with her hand and laughed. "Wipe that foolish grin off your face, Ardeth. I can’t stand looking at you that way."

Ardeth looked at her, "I’m so happy, Mon. You know, it’s been almost 7 months since the last time I saw her. Hell, I miss her so much."

Monica’s face suddenly changed to a worried expression. "Ardeth, do you realize the stake in this game? Do you ever consider the risk?"

Ardeth’s face suddenly went darker as he looked at her. His jaw clenched. "This is no game, Mon. You know it. I know I’m risking my own life just by getting close to her. So spare me your preach, OK dear? Don’t ruin my mood….. please?"

Monica bent down and planted a light kiss on his cheek. "All right."

Suddenly they were both surprised by the chirping sound of Monica’s comm. unit that she pinned at the left side of her jacket. She tapped it, "Bleeth here."

"The shuttle is approaching, Ms. Bleeth. ETA 1 minute. The bay is ready for clearance." The voice of the chief security informed her.

"I’ll be right there." She said.

Ardeth smiled and rose from his seat. He led the way out of the room. Before the door wooshed open for them, Monica grabbed his arm.

"Ardeth, I’m afraid….. for you." She said softly.

Ardeth took her hands in his and planted a light kiss on her forehead, "Don’t be, my dear. I’ll be OK. I promise you."

They both walked hurriedly to the turbo lift that would take them to the shuttle bay.

CHAPTER 2

Earth orbit

Sol sector

The shuttle that was thrusting towards Earth was no ordinary shuttle. It was equipped with a cloaking device that protected it from being detected by Earth scanning system. It swooped down through the atmosphere without even causing too much disturbance waves.

The sky was so blue, and the clouds were as white as snow. The scenes from inside the shuttle were breathtaking. She punched some buttons in her console and the shuttle went further down swooping its way among the clouds. As the clouds thinned she could see the landscape of Hamunaptra Resort.

This was her second visit to this place but this was the first time she actually saw the whole landscape from the sky. When she had come here the first time, she had been too busy with the diplomatic protocols. The ground beneath her was brown. The desert spread as long as her eyes could see. She could see the Grand Hotel erected in the middle of a green valley. Some small oases were scattered here and there with palm trees all over the place. There were two big artificial lakes that functioned as swimming pools. But one breathtaking scene was a great building located not too far from the hotel. The architecture was originally designed from scratch to produce the exact replica of The City of The Dead. She disabled the cloaking device and the shuttle was suddenly visible by naked eyes.

It entered the shuttle bay with an elegant swing. Its slender shape was definitely not of Earth designed craft. No Earth shuttle had the armory such as this one. It was armed not only with phaser and photon torpedoes but quantum torpedoes as well. The shuttle most probably could maneuver much faster than a galaxy class star ship because it was much smaller and much slender. The maker of the shuttle definitely had superior technology than the UFP (United Federation of Planets) and Starfleet.

Monica Bleeth stood in the front line with 12 security personnel. There were 12 more personnel by the other side of the shuttle. The side of the shuttle wooshed open revealing a demonic looking female creature. She stepped down and gave Monica a big smile. Her fangs were visible and Monica could not help the thought of meeting a vampire. She shoved the thought away from her head and advanced towards her.

"Welcome back to Hamunaptra Resort, Your Highness."

The woman in front of her had a ghostly white skin. Her hair was bright red, long and curly, almost touching her waist. Her eyes were light green with a slight orange circle in the center, almost like an Earth reptile’s eyes. She was tall and sexy. Her body curved beautifully as she walked slowly towards Monica. She was wearing an all black costume that was so contrast with her skin. The costume wrapped her body tightly, showing all her curves. She even wore black boots to match the costume. There were metal belts around her waist and wrists. Yet the most stunning from her appearance was her face. She was absolutely beautiful. Her face feature was perfectly balanced as if she were a computer-generated image. She had full lips, the same color as her hair. And her green/orange eyes radiated magical waves that made people drowned in it.

Monica stepped forward, took her hand and kissed it.

"Oh, cut the courtesy, Monica! I come to see Ardeth Bay." She said waving her hand not even looking at Monica. Her voice sounded like a song in Monica’s ears. It was so clean, so light, yet so sexy. Her voice was almost angelic, in contrast to her demonic appearance.

"Will you send these guards away? I hate guards." She proceeded walking, leaving Monica behind. She hurriedly caught up with her, walked by her side. Two things about this woman that Monica could hardly stand were her arrogance and stubbornness. Monica signaled the security personnel to leave them.

"Please follow me, Your Highness. Ardeth has been waiting for you." She said patiently.

"Then, let’s not make him wait any longer, hmm?" She smiled to her sweetly. Monica felt the creep as she saw the tip of her fangs.

They entered the hall of the lobby and Monica took her to a turbo lift.

"Weapon Room." She commanded the computer.

"You look very lovely today, Monica." She said in her beautiful voice.

"Thank you for your attention, Your Highness. You’re quite perceptive. I’m in fact dressed up for your arrival." She answered her.

"Really? It’s very nice of you. I wish we could have more time to talk, Monica. Ardeth told me so much about you." She squeezed her shoulder softly.

"Yes, Your Highness. I wish we could. Ah, here we are." They both stepped out of the turbo lift and walked along the corridor. Once they arrived in front of the Weapon Room, Monica stopped.

"I leave you here, Your Highness. Ardeth Bay’s inside."

"Thank you so much, Monica." She smiled again and gave Monica her hand to kiss.

Monica took the hand and brought it to her lips. She couldn’t help but noticed the silver color of the sharp nails. She shuddered a little. Monica left the site hurriedly. She hated being so close to a Dnunian. Not that she had anything against the race, but the very appearance of a Dnunian represented all the things she had feared as a child. Dracula, vampires, anubis, and all other scary stories she had read from the ancient books. She realized though, that it was only in her mind. The Princess was in fact a very nice person, aside from her arrogance. Once she got to know her, she was getting more and more fond of her. And she knew the Princess felt the same too. But before she could have a truly nice talk with her, she had to put aside her fear first.

The Princess’ name was Salvia. She was the youngest and the only daughter of the ruler of Dnunia Empire. Counting in earth standard years, Salvia was only 20 years old. She usually traveled with her 3 body guards. However, Monica didn’t see them coming with her this time. The bodyguards were big and tall. Two male and one female Dnunian warriors. She got acquainted with the female one during her first visit to Hamunaptra. Yet Monica couldn’t remember her name.

Princess Salvia was the youngest and the only daughter of Emperor Xegore. She had 4 older brothers and one twin brother. Monica had never met them, but she had seen their pictures. They were handsome and sexy, yet like all Dnunians, their appearances scared her. She remembered their names by heart. Her twin brother was Eryk. The next older was Sharc, preceded by Janoj and Vassago. The oldest, the heir of the throne of Dnunia, was the most handsome. His name was Troy. Unlike other Dnunians who usually had reddish hair color, his was silvery white. Almost as white as his skin. According to the information she obtained from the computer, every 1000 years in Dnunia, there would be born a Prince with white hair. It was believed that this Prince was a reincarnation of the Holy Yagnar, their god.

Monica actually believed in reincarnation. Unlike Ardeth who never even believed in the stories of the ancient Egyptians, despite of his origin as the only son of a Med-Jai Leader. He would laugh at her and waved his hand every time she talked about ghosts and ancient spirits. Yet, he still studied the egyptology, martial arts and learned to read ancient Egyptian hieroglyph, out of respect to his father. Ardeth’s only interest was art. He wrote songs, made sculptures and painted. Ardeth Bay VI died more of broken heart than of old age. He had given up on his only son. Even though the Med-Jai warriors no longer existed since 2 centuries ago, the line of the Bay family had to continue guarding the legacy of ancient Egypt. Ardeth Bay VI retired from Star Fleet only to find that the Med-Jai blood ended with him. He died believing that his only son disgraced the race of Med-Jai.

Monica shook her head as she remembered her godfather. She had promised him though, that even though she was not a Med-Jai leader, she would keep Hamunaptra and the entire legacy in it until the day she died.

Eight years ago, about one year after his father’s death, Ardeth Bay VII had left home and joined a space travel program. He had ended up in Dnunia and joined an organization called The Soul Foundation. The organization had been dealing with protection towards children from violence, including war victims, and abusive parents. Yet, in the course of 2 years it had developed and opened many representative offices in the Alpha Quadrant, including the Federation’s space. It no longer dealt with war victims and abusive parents only, but also orphans, neglected children and many more cases involving children. The Soul Foundation had been found by Princess Salvia and her twin brother Prince Eryk. Both of them had an obsession of making a heaven for children of all races. There, where Ardeth Bay ended up finding his goal and motivation in his life.

He first joined as a volunteer in transporting the war victims to safer grounds. Then he became more and more involved in the organization. In one year he had earned respect from all people he’d been working with, including the Princess herself. The royal twins had even came to him to congratulate him of his success in finding and rescuing almost two thousand children from a civil war in Mansa System. And that had been only his first success. Ardeth Bay had proven to be the best negotiator and had brought peace to more planets than he himself could remember. Not to mention the advantages for Dnunia Empire in getting more and more allies.

Seven months ago, he had come back home, ready to bid farewell to Monica and Hamunaptra for good, only to find that Hamunaptra Resort was on the brink of bankruptcy. Unknown to both Monica and Ardeth, his father had put the resort in an auction before his death in his hopelessness. The highest bidder who came that year was a Ferengi trader. Ferengi was a race of merchants who placed profits and interests above all in their lives. As it turned out later, he was willing to let go of the possession with a tripled price.

Ardeth could have cared less for the resort and could have just left if he wanted. But he knew that this place meant a lot to Monica. And he loved her dearly. So he decided to stay and helped her get the property back. Lucky for them, the Ferengi trader was a very very busy businessman who had interest in other more profitable things than Hamunaptra. That bought them time to get the money.

Monica sighed and shook her head. She hated herself for becoming a burden to Ardeth, but if not her, no one else would save the legacy of the Med-Jai and Ancient Egypt. She knew it would never be Ardeth Bay VII. He was a lost son. He might be a Med-Jai by blood, but he was not a warrior at heart. Ardeth Bay VII was a unique man. A free man, whom rules and regulations could not bind. He was a man of his own will, of his own race.